ICE consists of three directorates to accomplish the agency’s mission, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Management and Administration (M&A).

ICE executes its mission through the enforcement of more than 400 federal statutes, and focuses on smart immigration enforcement, preventing terrorism and combating the illegal movement of people and trade. (read more)

Learn more about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including facts about investigations, immigration enforcement and removal operations, and management and administration information. (read more)

To ensure openness and transparency and to better serve those seeking more information about ICE and its operations, the agency centralized processing of all ICE-related Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in a single office.

The operation was launched by the Online Child Pornography and Hatred Crimes Unit and is part of a series of actions taken to prevent online child pornography and child sex exploitation in Brazil. According to Brazilian authorities, at least six individuals were arrested for the possession of child pornography and 100 individuals were arrested for suspicion of child pornography during the last three operations launched by the DPF. From January 2013 to May 2014, DPF opened 1,441 cases investigating child pornography in Brazil.

Some of the warrants executed during this operation were the direct result of leads provided by HSI Brasilia and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). In 2010, HSI Brasilia and NCMEC established a secure direct network connection directly to the DPF that allowed them secure access to NCMEC's reporting system. This streamlined the transfer and sharing of investigative leads with DPF and assisted them in their efforts to combat the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. "Protect Brazil Week" is promoted by the Brazilian Human Rights Secretariat and the Ministry of Tourism, aimed to protect children and adolescents against all kinds of sexual violence.

Through ICE's Office of International Affairs and the State Department, HSI has 67 attaché offices in 48 countries around the world. HSI special agents work closely with foreign law enforcement agencies, and through a robust network of specialized, vetted units known as Transnational Criminal Investigative Units. Additionally, HSI brings personnel from host countries to the United States to train at the Department of Homeland Security Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia.

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Media Inquiries

For media inquiries about ICE activities, operations, or policies, contact the ICE Office of Public Affairs at (202) 732-4242.